“I do,” he agreed, squeezing my hand in his while his eyes shone with a myriad of powerful emotions. “I definitely do, and it won't ever slip my mind.”
“Make sure that it doesn't, Alessandro,” I muttered, and smiled despite the building lump in my throat. “Make sure that it doesn’t.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
The Future (6 months later)
I studied for my final exams while May and Alessandro made noises in the background and argued about the toys the baby was allowed to play with. Ever since our daughter Marcella came into the world, the three of them were inseparable and Marcella was smothered with attention.
Alessandro had been home almost all the time in the past few months, and he handled most of his business via phone, letting Lorenzo deal with the issues that arose on the outside. He always promised he'd be back in a week's time and then postponed that deadline for a whole extra week. His presence in our daughter's life was so hands-on that the babysitter we hired had almost nothing to do. For the most part, he got up in the middle of the night to feed the baby and always helped with burping her or changing her diapers. It was clear Alessandro took great pride in being a father…and a husband. He treated me like a queen, and gave me all the freedom I needed in order to focus on the rest of my obligations. Life used to be boring and purposeless, but now, with balancing between Marcella and all of my other obligations, I was always busy.
“Come, piccolina, let's put the little one to sleep,” Alessandro instructed gently.
“Can I carry her for a little while?” May asked with excitement.
Alessandro took a moment to think about it. “Okay, but let me show you how to do it. Cross your arms like a cradle,” he explained and laughed. “No, May, not like that.”
Caught up with their playful conversation, I glanced behind my shoulder and smiled as Alessandro fussed over the two girls, completely oblivious I observed him.
May found it difficult to follow Alessandro's instructions and Marcella seemed confused by the whole situation. She made one of those frowning baby faces as though she couldn't decide whether to cry or not, but then Alessandro intervened and she calmed down again.
“Piccolina, perhaps you should let me do the carrying,” he suggested softly.
“All right, but then I get to tell her the bedtime story,” May requested as they ambled out of the room.
In a few minutes, a high-pitched noise blasted from the baby monitor as May got carried away with her bedtime story which amounted to an awkward mashup of Cinderella and Snow White. Alessandro burst into a fit of laughter more than a couple of times.
Done with studying for the evening, I closed my books and wandered into the bathroom. I could still hear Alessandro and May in the background, arguing whether or not Cinderella was the one who lived with the seven dwarfs or lost her shoe.
Stepping out of a shower, I put on my pajamas and returned to the bedroom. It was silent. As I approached the baby monitor, I heard a gentle subtle noise and picked it up to have a better look at the screen. The scene I witnessed was breathtaking. Alessandro sat on a chair, rocking a half-asleep Marcella in his arms. He whispered to her in Italian, telling her how much mommy and daddy were happy to have her. My heart swelled as I watched him kiss the top of our daughter's head. His love for that tiny creature was simply undeniable.
In a few moments, there were no more sounds coming from the monitor. Marcella was asleep. Alessandro slowly rose to his feet and placed her into her crib, with as much gentleness as he could muster. Taking one last look at our beautiful daughter, he turned out the light and tiptoed out of the room.
I placed the baby monitor back onto the nightstand and got in bed. Alessandro entered the room a few minutes later. While he removed his clothes, I stole glances his way. He peeled off his black sweater, revealing a wide muscled chest covered in shimmering bronze skin. He looked divine; like a work of art. In the past few weeks, I had noticed my self-control slowly slipped away and Alessandro had managed to work his way in. When he was left in nothing but his boxers, he put his clothes